It was another dusty morning in Black Rock City and our little tribe found ourselves wandering down a dusty road with no particular goal in mind. As with so many experiences at burning man, we stumbled upon a rather cool spot.

The serendipities and synchronicities at Burning Man continue to amaze, enlighten, and inspire me. I’ve been shooting portraits as gifts at Burning Man in search of stories for the Caravan of Souls for 3 years now. I'm still pondering what I learned from this great conversation.

Ahhh...Portland...I love this city. It's not uncommon for me to stumble upon a place or a person in Portland that fits the vibe of the project...or my life for that matter. A group of us were in Portland hanging out with my good friend Miller James, who was on tour with a few cats that became new friends for sure, Brian Jarvis, and Brendan James. After the Portland show, we took a day off and chilled out in the Pearl District. A nice dinner at an amazing restaurant in the "Pearl" followed by a search for a "wee bit o whiskey" to wrap up the night led us to this amazing place.

“I used to be 85 pounds heavier. I hated living in Portland because it rained, it was boring, and I wanted to get out of here. My wife wouldn’t let me. I’m glad she didn’t. Once I discovered running, my perspectives changed. You couldn’t pry me out of Oregon now. When I go out on those trails to train and race, I realize most of the people down in the city will never see these views. You can’t drive to them. I mean, you have to hike or run to them! You end up in these places where there is no communication. You’re literally miles away from anything related to civilization.”

The Willamette Valley is a grand and varied appellation that includes six "sub-appellations" including, in no particular order: Dundee Hills, Chehalem Mountains, McMinnville, Ribbon Ridge, Yamhill-Carlton, and Eola-Amity Hills. All are equally spectacular and shielded from Pacific Ocean storms by the huge valley that follows the Willamette River from North to South. The wine country covers hundreds of square miles, yet with its massive tourist draw, it still exudes a humble and relaxed energy. We were going to try and touch on each of these sub-appellations. Ready, GO!

I was standing in the auditorium at the Xi'an Conservatory of Music waiting to get a few test shots before the days performances started when someone from behind me said "hi". I turned around to see this guy reaching out to shake my hand. In very good English, he continued with "I guess we're going to be working together for the next 5 days".

Rubing was always right where everyone needed her to be. Of all the people buzzing around, helping, fixing, rescuing, saving, performing, and contributing to the event, she was a star, albeit a quiet and humble one.

I met Mark and Stephen at an English pub I found while wandering around Prague's Old Town Square. The pub is called the George and the Dragon. I was sitting alone at a table having a Czech beer and one of the employees of the bar was giving me the 411 on the expat community in the area. She introduced me to these two characters, as they were regulars in Prague. She said "they're really good guys, and very funny". About 20 seconds into the conversation, I knew I'd met a couple of real characters, and really good guys.

Art installations at Burning Man range from paintings to massive structures on the Playa. Embrace was nothing short of epic. It was made of wood and metal, love and hope, art and engineering, with two torsos staring into one another’s eyes.

This was the Burning Man tradition. Nothing left behind. Today, Embrace burns.